There don't appear to be any windows, first or second floor. That's just weird, man.

There is a curved discontinuity in the upper front siding and for a moment I was going to call BS/Photoshopped. but it appears to be genuine. Not sure why or what would cause a curved line in the siding.

How do we get an answer on this one?

The rotating birds-eye view on Bing maps, which appears to be from 2012, shows older siding and windows in all the usual places. This looks new, amateurish or cheaply done, and peculiar as hell.

It's obviously for the Vampire lair. You don't want any risk of sunlight getting in through windows, who knows when a neighbourhood boy will accidentally hit a baseball through the window and then suddenly *poof* there goes the master vampire from the beam of sunlight straight into his coffin.

There don't appear to be any windows, first or second floor. That's just weird, man.

There is a curved discontinuity in the upper front siding and for a moment I was going to call BS/Photoshopped. but it appears to be genuine. Not sure why or what would cause a curved line in the siding.

How do we get an answer on this one?

The rotating birds-eye view on Bing maps, which appears to be from 2012, shows older siding and windows in all the usual places. This looks new, amateurish or cheaply done, and peculiar as hell.

It isn't curved. It's from the map process. Take one step to the right and zoom in. It looks fine.

To me, it looks like an old farm house. It has the old tin roof that houses from the early part of the 20th century had. Windows were expensive. And still are. Upstairs was where the bedrooms were and bedrooms were for sleeping.

With the louvered vent in front discharging the carbon filtered air. Could work.

As an aside, I pass a house on my daily commutes with an almost completely sealed window, along one edge of which I could detect intense light. One evening I stopped and knocked. "We don't know each other, but I gotta tell you there is a small light leak on your side window. If I noticed it, eventually someone else might." Next time I drove by and forever after that there was no detectable light.

My guess is that they covered over the windows so that the house would have fewer legal bedrooms. The number of bedrooms is a factor in the tax assessment. Fewer bedrooms means a less valuable house and lower property taxes. Property taxes are pretty low on that house already, so they wouldn't save much, but it's still my guess. People often do things that don't make financial sense in order to save on taxes.

With the louvered vent in front discharging the carbon filtered air. Could work.

As an aside, I pass a house on my daily commutes with an almost completely sealed window, along one edge of which I could detect intense light. One evening I stopped and knocked. "We don't know each other, but I gotta tell you there is a small light leak on your side window. If I noticed it, eventually someone else might." Next time I drove by and forever after that there was no detectable light.

You need to stop by and knock again. When they open the door, just kind of clear your throat and hold your hand out.

If you click on where it says "Street View - Jun 2013" in the upper left you can go back in time to July 2008 when the 2nd floor had windows but the house was in pretty dire shape. Looks like they had a remodel job on the cheap. No budget for windows. Surprised if that actually passes the building code for the town there. Or, grow room/meth lab/sex dungeon/etc.

I didn't do a close architectural study, but to me it has the look of being something like an old, small ( country ? ) church that has been turned into a residence, including a quick and dirty re-siding/re-roofing. I once lived next to a church (a bit bigger than this), but while it was still a church the bell tower was torn down before it fell down.

"Havin' all that room, Seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage for a long time."

Check out the Zillow Bird's Eye view. It looks like the pics are older as the house appears to lack the walls look older and worn and there are definitely second story windows. It looks like when they resided the house they covered up the windows.

If you click on where it says "Street View - Jun 2013" in the upper left you can go back in time to July 2008 when the 2nd floor had windows but the house was in pretty dire shape. Looks like they had a remodel job on the cheap. No budget for windows. Surprised if that actually passes the building code for the town there. Or, grow room/meth lab/sex dungeon/etc.

Wow - I think that's the most bizarre thing ABOUT the place!! I can't imagine covering over windows that did in fact once exist.

Grow-op seems an odd theory because certainly there have got to be ways to adequately mask the light seeping through the windows - plus, it's not at all strange to have light coming out of windows so who'd see anything amiss? Being on the second floor would keep curious passersby from looking in and seeing something illegal happening.

Y'know, a lot of old windows leak, and it can be expensive to repair the water damage/rot and install new windows. Maybe they just decided to side of the whole mess and prevent any further water penetration instead of shelling out to do it "right"?

Grow-op seems an odd theory because certainly there have got to be ways to adequately mask the light seeping through the windows - plus, it's not at all strange to have light coming out of windows so who'd see anything amiss?

It isn't curved. It's from the map process. Take one step to the right and zoom in. It looks fine.

I thought it persisted in other views, but you might be right.

Quote:

To me, it looks like an old farm house. It has the old tin roof that houses from the early part of the 20th century had. Windows were expensive. And still are. Upstairs was where the bedrooms were and bedrooms were for sleeping.

It was built in 1920 and hasn't had any transactions in years. I'd say it was built on a street of houses, not a farm, but has never been updated except for this bizarre reskinning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiddlesticks

If you click on where it says "Street View - Jun 2013" in the upper left you can go back in time to July 2008 when the 2nd floor had windows but the house was in pretty dire shape. Looks like they had a remodel job on the cheap. No budget for windows.

Er, yeah, I already said that - maybe someday they will cut through the siding and restore the windows. I've seen a lot of houses being remodeled on the very slow and cheap this way.

Quote:

Surprised if that actually passes the building code for the town there.

It's a small town in Georgia. What building code (that applies to 100yo houses probably still in the same family), Kemosabe?

Go to the right and around the corner. Zoom in over the neighbors house. You'll see the roof is done horribly. There are gaps in the -- planking? -- And the eves are still not finished. That thing must leak like a sieve when it rains!

Go to the right and around the corner. Zoom in over the neighbors house. You'll see the roof is done horribly. There are gaps in the -- planking? -- And the eves are still not finished. That thing must leak like a sieve when it rains!

to me it looks like put a second, metal roof over an existing roof. The horizontal boards you can see is what they screwed the metal roof down to. When I had my house reroofed, they did the same sort of horizontal boards over the existing metal roof because it had been mailed down with 4" nails and would take too long to take up.

Still, probably leaky.

Maybe that's just attic space and they didn't want to keep the windows.

There is a curved discontinuity in the upper front siding and for a moment I was going to call BS/Photoshopped. but it appears to be genuine. Not sure why or what would cause a curved line in the siding.

Definite digital artifact. That black line running from the left up near the roofline is the power line running from the street. See the discontinuity in that line right at that breakline? Trace the power line back above the street and you'll see an even bigger one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StGermain

to me it looks like put a second, metal roof over an existing roof. The horizontal boards you can see is what they screwed the metal roof down to. When I had my house reroofed, they did the same sort of horizontal boards over the existing metal roof because it had been mailed down with 4" nails and would take too long to take up.

Step to the left of the house and turn and look back, you'll see the other side isn't much better. It looks like the house is a remodel job that is going slowly, probably because the owners don't have a lot of money. The siding skipped the windows because replacing them would have been much more espensive. The roof is a patch job.

Are you sure you have the right house? The link is to the house across the street, number 275. The mystery house is number 280 which comes up considerably larger and more expensive - 2800 sf and $175k, IIRC.

Are you sure you have the right house? The link is to the house across the street, number 275. The mystery house is number 280 which comes up considerably larger and more expensive - 2800 sf and $175k, IIRC.

(You can just make out the house number on the mail box post.)

The tax assessor's website says that 280 South St. is 2252 square feet (plus an additional 164 square feet of open porch,) and has an assessed value of $73,700 (land and home/sheds/etc.) In my experience in Georgia, tax valuation is about 20% below market value. In this case, however, the market value may actually be lower than the assessment!

The more I look at it, though, the more I think it really does look like a converted church... or a tobacco barn. But probably it's just a budget remodel that's moving slowly due to financial constraints.

It's obviously for the Vampire lair. You don't want any risk of sunlight getting in through windows, who knows when a neighbourhood boy will accidentally hit a baseball through the window and then suddenly *poof* there goes the master vampire from the beam of sunlight straight into his coffin.

Look at the "playground" in the front yard of the house up the street. Who builds a playground like that in the front yard, unless it's a trap for small children? I distrust the whole community.

Is medical marijuana legal in your state? they could be farming pot up there, because if they farmed it in the open, they have too much trouble with poachers. The security they need around an open field-- like electric fences, and the insurance they'd have to carry, if they had them, might be worth raising it in an enclosed space under sunlamps.